Senior Advanced Music
by badwolf687
Summary: It is the start of senior year at Hollywood Arts, and a new class will get the Victorious kids thinking. Rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

For most teenagers, the prospect of returning to school after the summer holidays would be an unevviable situation. For the students of Hollywood Arts High, however, the situation was quite different. They loved their school, and walking back into the main hall filled them all with immense joy, and none more so than Tori Vega. So excited was she, in fact, that it was all she could do to keep herself from bursting into song as she walked over to her best friend where he stood by his locker.

'Yo, wassup?' said Andre, smiling in greeting.

'Ohh, you know, just super stoked to be back after the holidays,' Tori replied.

'Yours were bad too?' Andre enquired.

Tori frowned. 'No…? I just really love coming to school here.' She paused for a moment and frowned. 'You're holidays were bad?'

Andre nodded glumly. 'Yup.'

'But I thought you were going to Spain with your parents over the holidays?' she asked, concern in her voice.

'I was, or I thought I was, turns out it was only ever the two of them going, so I had to spend six weeks at my Grandma's house,' he said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

'Why didn't you call me?' asked Tori. 'I was home all summer, we could have hung out.'

'I would have, but the first day I was at my Grandma's it rang, she got scared, and-' he paused for a moment, shaking his head. 'She smashed it with a hammer.'

'She smashed your phone with a hammer?'

'Yup. So not only could I not call anybody to get out of there, I couldn't even play Grumpy Gerbils on my phone. I spent the whole summer playing Monopoly with my Grandma,' he said.

'But you like Monopoly,' said Tori pointedly.

'Yeah I do, but have you ever tried to play Monopoly with a woman who's afraid of dogs, cars, top hats, boats, and irons? Every time I moved a piece she ran away screaming,' he replied, shaking his head at the memory.

The two friends stood around chatting absent-mindedly for a while as the rest of the school filed through the hallway. Finally, their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Cat, Robbie, Beck, and Jade.

'Hiiiiiiii!' screeched Cat, throwing her arms around them both and pulling them into a bone-crunching hug.

'Hey Cat.'

'Wassup, little Red?'

'Nothing, I'm just so excited 'cos Jade and I are in the same music class this year,' she exclaimed.

'Yeah, so excited,' said Jade sarcastically, before sipping from her coffee.

'Wait, which music class are you guys in?' asked Andre.

'Senior Advanced Music. The session straight after lunch,' Cat replied brightly.

'Hey, I'm in that class too,' said Andre happily.

'Me too,' pipped Robbie.

'And me,' added Tori.

'Oh God, kill me,' said Jade.

The bell rang, and the friends headed off to their respective classes. The day went by relatively uneventfully, and lunch found them sitting at their usual table, discussing the coming music class.

'So, who is the teacher for Senior Advanced Music?' asked Tori, in betweens mouthfuls of pasta.

'I don't know, I always thought it was Christopher, but apparently the Seniors get taught by someone else,' replied Andre.

'I heard he's kind of crazy,' said Robbie.

'I like crazy people, their so funny!' said Cat, laughing loudly, drawing strange looks from everyone, until finally Jade interrupted her.

'I heard he throws rocks at red-heads.'

Cat fell silent, a terrified look on her face. Tori frowned at Jade, then began to reassure Cat as the bell rang.

The friends opened the door to the Senior Advanced Music classroom and looked around. Instruments of all shapes and sizes hung on the black walls, and thin drapes hung over the windows. Rather than desks they had leather armchairs, with one large red one facing a number of smaller brown ones, and rather than normal strip-lighting an ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling. The five of them each took an armchair, and struck up a tentative conversation as they waited for the teacher to arrive.

'So, do you guys think this will be a tough class?' asked Robbie.

'I heard half the kids who start this class don't finish it, but that the half that do finish almost always go on to get jobs in the industry,' said Jade assuredly.

'Well, I guess that's cool, but what if the teacher really is mean?' said Robbie nervously. 'I mean, I know I don't get as scared as I used to but-'

Robbie was cut off as the door to the classroom swung open, to reveal their teacher.

**I have every intention of writing this as a serial, but I would love to know what you guys think! **

**I'm going for a very true-to-the show kind of vibe here, I do hope that that comes across.**

**Please Review!**

**BADWOLF**


	2. Chapter 2

For a second all that could be made out was a tall, broad shouldered silhouette, wreathed in smoke. The figure stepped forward to reveal a powerfully built, subtly athletic looking young man. He had long, black hair that hung down over his dark eyes, pale skin, and the top of jagged black tattoo could be seen on his neck, just protruding out the top of his artfully torn black t-shirt. He wore a black bowler hat pulled low over his forehead, a long black leather trenchcoat, black jeans and heavy black boots that clinked slightly as he walked, as if the foot inside them were made of metal.

Stepping forward out of the smoke, the teacher frowned, staring back where he had come for a moment, then pulling a mobile phone out of an inside pocket of his jacket, and holding it up to his ear.

'Luther? Hi, it's. That steam vent outside my classroom is leaking again. Would you come and take a look?' He paused for a moment. 'Thanks,' he finished putting the phone in his pocket and turning to look at his students.

'Hiiii!' said Cat cheerily, waving and bouncing slightly in her huge chair.

'Hello,' the teacher replied. He spoke quietly, slowly, carefully enunciating each syllable, as if each of them was completely vital to what he wsa saying. His accent was hard to guage, a strange mix of American and English, but the power that it held was undeniable, and almost hypnotic. He took off his hat, and, with a deft movement, tossed it so that it landed perfectly perched on the backrest of the red armchair at the front of the classroom.

'It's nice to see you all,' he said, throwing himself into the chair, and continuing to stare levelly at the teenagers. As he sat he drummed the nails of his right hand on the armrest, revealing nails that were long, silver, and sharpened to a point. This continued for what felt like forever, until Tori finally broke the silence.

'Sooo, you're our teacher?' she asked timidly. This seemed to break him out of his stupor.

'Yes. My name is Toby Caine. It is the preference of some students to be referred to as Mr, but I am not one of them. My friends don't call me Mr, the rest of the teachers don't call me Mr, so I don't see why you should,' he said.

This stunned the students, and they stared at him in confusion for a moment, until Cat spoke up. 'So, we call you Toby then?' she asked inquisitively.

He thought for a moment, then nodded. 'OK, that seems fine.'

Jade raised her hand. 'Ahh, no offence, _Toby, _but aren't you a little young to be a teacher?' she said, in a voice obviously meant to offend.

'Ahh, excuse me, but aren't you a little young to be so cynical?' Toby replied, talking sarcastically and sassily waggling his head. Jade's eyes widened, and the rest of the class nodded appreciatively. A teacher who could give return serve with Jade was definitely someone to be respected.

'So, being as you're in this class, I assume you all passed Junior Advanced Music?' he asked, looking around expectantly. When the class nodded, he continued. 'Good so, first things first: I want all of you to forget everything that you learned last year, as it is now irrlelevant.'

Again, the students were shocked into silence.

'Seriously?' asked Andre, still shaking his head in disbelief.

'Yes. Everything you learn this year will transcend and supersede everything you have ever learned about music, and to do that you need a clean slate,' Toby said simply. The students began to shrug and nod in agreement, so he went on. 'Right so I have taken the liberty of putting together dossiers on each of you, containing all your past work, both musical and otherwise,' he said reaching behind his chair and pulling out a large and hitherto completely unnoticed pile of manila folders.

Robbie raised his hand. 'What's a dossier?'

'It's a file with things in it. Things that include every single creative piece any of you have ever produced whilst you have been at this school,' he answered, and narrowed his eyes at Robbie for a moment. 'You're Robbie Shapiro?'

'Yes. Why?'

'No reason. I almost didn't recognise you without you're puppet.' Robbie's face fell. With the help of his friends, he had finally gotten rid of Rex from his life for good at the end of the last school year, but mention of the puppet still upset him.

'Don't worry Robbie, I think you look better without him,' said Toby with a kind smile, and received one in return. 'So, I need to get to know you all a little better. When I call your name, raise your hand so I can take a look at you,' he said, looking carefully at a piece of paper in front of him.

'Cat Valentine?'

'That's meee!' squealed Cat, bouncing even higher and shotting her arm into the air.

Toby smiled. 'Yes it is. So, an incredibly strong singing voice, a talent for costuming, and a proclivity towards old jazz and pop music.'

'How did you know all that!? I don't even know you!' yelled Cat, looking upset.

'It's all in your dossier,' said Toby, pointing to the pile of files and looking confused.

'Oh, OK then,' said Cat happily. 'What's a dossier?'

'I just told you what-'

'Don't encourage her,' Tori said interrupted, looking helpfully at him.

'Right. Thanks,' he said, and looked carefully at her. 'So, who are you then, helpful girl?'

'Tori Vega.'

He studied his paper for a moment. 'Ah yes. Strong voice, good rock undertones. We're going to explore some of the outer edges of your voice this year.'

'O…K?' said Tori, looking a little worried. Toby worked through a number of other members of the class in the same fashion, before reaching Andre, who raised his hand.

'From what I can see, certainly one of the most musically gifted students I have encountered,' he began, and Andre nodded happily.

'Yeah, that sounds like me,' he said, chuckling slightly.

'Although, slightly musically limited. We're going to have to work on that,' Toby continued, drawing a surprised look from Andre. Noticing this, he went on, 'That's constructive criticism Andre. Every musician needs to be able to listen to constructive criticism in order to succeed. It's not meant to hurt your feelings.'

'I guess you're right,' said Andre, still pouting a little.

'Robbie Shapiro?'

Robbie's hand shot up. 'Hi again.'

'Right, of course. So I'm seeing definite talent as a lyricist, and a definite flair for slightly left of centre comedy,' he said, reading off the sheet then looking up at Robbie. 'That sound like you?'

'Yeperooni,' replied Robbie.

'Excellent.' A few more class members names were read, before;

'Jade West?'

Jade raised her hand, looking at him expectantly. 'Here.'

He stood still, looking straight at her for a moment. He ran his tongue over his teeth, and finally said 'very nice' before proceeding through the few remaining class members. When he had reached the end of his list, he asked 'Is that everyone?'

The class all nodded, and a collective murmur of 'yes' could be heard.

'Good, good.' He looked down at his watch. 'Well since that seems to have taken up most of the lesson, I may as well give you you're homework.' He reached into a pocket of his jacket and pulled out a wad of playing cards and began handing them out. 'In order to fully understand music, you need to listen to as much music as possible. Written on the cards in front of you is a musician and one of their songs. If you have heard the song before, please raise your hand and I'll give you another.' No one raised their hands.

'What are we supposed to do with these?' asked Tori.

'Listen to them, of course. When I see you all again on Wednesday, each of you will have listened to your song, preferably more than once, and will have something to say about it.'

Cat raised her hand. 'What do you want us to say,' she asked, her head cocked slightly to one side and her mouth hanging open.

'Anything you like. Now, get out,' Toby finished as the bell rang. The students all got up and exited, chatering about their assigned song.

'What did you get?' Tori asked Andre.

'_Walking Man_, by some guy called Seasick Steve,' he replied, squinting at his card. 'How 'bout you?'

'Err, _Sober_,' she said.

'Oh yay, I love Pink!' said Cat.

'No, it's not her. It's some band called Tool,' she replied.

'Tool?' said Andre looking at Tori's card. 'Never heard of 'em.'

'Yeah, me neither,' said Tori. 'What did you get Cat?'

'Hammer, probably,' Andre muttered.

'No, I got, ummm….'she trailed off, looking down at her card. '_Sea Above, Sky Below_. Its by The Dirty Three.'

'Maybe they need a bath,' Robbie piped up.

'What did you get Robbie?' asked Cat.

'Benji Hughes, _Girl in the Tower,' _replied Robbie.

'Like Rapunzel!' said Cat dancing around.

'I somehow doubt it,' said Tori pointedly. 'What about you Jade… Jade?' she looked around, but Jade had already left.

**So there it is. Chapter 2. A lot of this chapter was about establishing Toby as a character (which I hope worked) hence the reason he spoke so much more than anyone else. I promise though, the regulars will be getting more lines in future chapters.**

**Also, you will probably notice Toby's musical views tend to reflect a lot of my own, and if this starts to annoy any of you, let me know and I can dial it back a little.**

**Other than that, please review! I'd love to know what you all think!**

**Badwolf**


	3. Chapter 3

Tori hummed quietly to herself as she walked into school early on Thursday morning.

_I am just a witless liar,_

_I am just an imbecile,_

_Doo doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo doo_

She hadn't expected it, but the song that Toby had assigned her had stuck. At first listen, she had been lost in the seemingly manic combination of buzzing guitars, erratic drumming and wailing, mournful vocals. She had never heard anything like it before, and she loved it. She sought out more of _Tool's _work, and was now so enamoured that she had listened to almost nothing else in the four days since her first class with Toby.

Looking around, she spotted Jade standing by her locker, her face set in the same expression it had been in for the last few days. It was something between depression and anger. The anger part, she thought to herself, was normal, but the depression part was a little more unusual.

'Hey,' Tori said, smiling at the other girl.

'What!' Jade snapped, and Tori recoiled in surprise. Things had improved a lot between the two girls since they had first met, to the point that they now considered one another friends, but sometimes when Jade was particularly tired or stressed about something she would slip back to her old ways.

'Ok, what's up with you?' Tori asked. 'You've been acting all quiet and cranky all week. Is something bothering you?'

'No, Ok? I'm fine!' Jade snapped again, though a little less severely this time, so Tori pushed on.

'Oh, come on! You can tell me! I promise I won't laugh if it's stupid.'

'Who said it was stupid?' Jade asked menacingly.

'No one, no one, I just kind of thought, you know, since, ummm…' Tori trailed off, trying desperately to rescue this sinking sjip of a conversation.

'Don't look so freaked out Vega. It's cool,' said Jade gently, before sighing and continuing. 'It's about Toby.'

'Toby, our teacher?'

'No, Toby the butt doctor,' said Jade sarcastically.

'You have a butt doctor?' Tori said quizzically. 'And his name is Toby?'

'No! I'm talking about our teacher!'

'Then why did you say-'

'It doesn't matter,' Jade burst out exasperatedly. She turned away from her friend and began fidgeting with the scissors on her locker. 'I don't think he likes me.'

'Why do you think that?' Tori asked.

'I just don't think he likes my music or my plays or anything that I've done that was in his stupid dossier,' she said angrily.

'But, he said that your work was very good,' said Tori, a little timidly.

'Very good?' said Jade, visibly frustrated now. 'Very good is something you say to a five-year-old when they draw you a picture of your house that looks like someone dropped mud onto some paper. It's not something you say to the entire sum of someone's life 's work.'

'Well, what did you want him to say?' inquired Tori.

'I don't know, anything. Something constructive, like what he said to you and Cat and Robbie and Andre, not the stupid little very good that I got,' said Jade, signing quotation marks in the air on the 'very good.'

'Well, I don't think that was what he meant when he said that,' said Tori.

'Of course you would say that, little miss good rock undertones,' Jade said, the air quotations making another appearance.

'Hey, don't take your anger out on me!' Tori retorted. 'I'm just trying to help!'

'Ok, ok, I'm sorry.'

'Thank you.'

'So, what d'you, you know…' Jade trailed off again, her long recently kicked habit of avoiding telling Tori anything making another appearance. 'What d'you think I should do?'

Tori thought for a moment. 'Talk to him about it. Maybe there's a perfectly good reason he didn't do a big spiel about you the way he did everybody else.'

'Or maybe he really does just hate me.'

'In which case you could talk to him about how you could make your work bett- different,' Tori, said, quickly changing the last word as she received a withering glare from Jade.

Jade stood silent for a moment, still playing with her decorative scissors. 'Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll ralk to him, try to clear the air.'

'There you go. Come on, we've gotta get to Sikowitz,' said Tori happily as the bell rang.

The Senior Advanced music students filed into their classroom just after lunch that day to find Toby already sprawled in his huge red armchair, his silver nails drumming on the armrest.

'Hello again, students. Take your seats please,' he said, his voice quiet and level as before, but the effect was just the same, and they all quickly made their way to their seats, and looked up expectantly at their teacher when they had done so.

'So,' Toby began. 'The homework. Did everyone do it?' Murmurs of yes rumbled around the room. 'Good. Did everyone enjoy their songs?' More murmurs of yes. 'Excellent. So, opinions. Tori, what did you think of _Tool_?'

'Honestly, I didn't thinl I was going to like it before I started,' Tori said. 'I looked up a biography of the band before I listened to the song, and when it said they were a metal band I was a bit worried that-'

'Why?' asked Toby suddenly.

'Why… what?' Tori said, unsure.

'Why were you worried when you found out they were a metal band?'

'Because…' she thought for a moment, a look of realisation coming across her face. 'I don't know. I guess I've just never listened to this kind of music before, so I just wasn't sure if I would like it.'

Toby raised an eyebrow. 'And did you? Like it, I mean.'

'Yeah I did. It's been stuck in my head for days.'

'Why?' Toby asked again. Tori sat still for a moment, racking her brains to think of an answer, before realising she really only had one.

'I have no idea. There's just something about it, something about all their music,' she said, an uncharacteristically whimsical look crossing her face.

'Perfect!' Toby shouted, throwing the students off guard and leaping from his chair. 'That, right there, is the entire point of today's lesson.'

'What was?' asked Cat, looking confused.

'What Tori just said,' Toby said, rubbing his hands together and pacing excitedly. 'She has no idea why she liked that song.'

The class all looked at one another, perplexed in the extreme by this statement.

'But, isn't it better if she knows why she liked a song,' asked Andre.

'Not always,' Toby replied, still wandering about between the children's chairs.

'But that makes no sense,' said Andre.

'Yeah it kinda doesn't,' Tori agreed.

'Sometimes my brother does things that don't make sense, like going to restaurants in his socks,' said Cat.

Robbie looked at her and frowned. 'Going to a restaurant in your socks isn't weird.'

'It is if you're not wearing anything else.'

'Moving on!' said Tori, cutting Cat off before she had the chance to continue her story. 'Toby, I believe you were just about to explain something to us?'

'Yes, thank you Tori,' said Toby as he finally returned to his seat. 'It's quite simple really. An old teacher of mine once told me that when you write a song, you have to consider three things.' He raised one finger on his left hand. 'The music.' A second finger. 'The lyrics.' A third. 'And the experiences that the audience brings when they hear it.'

'Why is the audience's experience important?' asked Robbie.

'Think about it. You write a song, a beautiful love song, and somebody happens to hear it at the same time they are, I don't know, going through a break-up,' said Toby, gesticulating elaborately with his hands. 'They may not hear your song again for years, and by the time they do they may already have forgotten the break-up, but they will remember the feeling from when they first heard the song, which is why it is important to them.'

'So, you're saying that I have some repressed memory that this song is making me think about subconsciously?' asked Tori, a slightly worried look on her face.

'Maybe. Or maybe the singers voice reminds you of something, or the lyrics are special to you, or you have a hereditary love of loud guitar playing. The point is, everyone will have a slightly different way of looking at a song, because everyone has had slightly different experiences in life. The trick for us, as musicians, is to write songs that appeal to the masses.'

'Well, how do we do that? You just said everyone looks at songs differently,' said Andre, frowning as he tried to take in what was being said.

'By writing songs that make _you_ feel something,' Toby replied simply, and a chorus of 'huh?'s' and 'what's' rang around the room.

'I don't get it,' said Cat, twirling her hair around her finger.

Toby waited a moment for the noise to settle before continuing. 'If you feel something for what you've written, then you will show that when you perform it, and people will see that. When people see your emotions, they remember their own emotions, then hey presto! You have a song that makes people feel something.'

Understanding spread around the room, the students buzzing as the students nodded and whispered to one another. Then Tori frowned.

'Did he just say "hey presto!"?

'I think he did,' answered Andre.

'I definitely heard hey presto,' said Robbie in agreement.

'Do you have a problem with my use of the term "hey presto"? asked Toby, one eyebrow raised.

'No, it just not something you hear teachers say,' said Tori. 'A magician maybe, but not a teacher.'

'How do you know I didn't used to be a magician?' Toby asked with a mysterious air.

'Did you?' said Robbie, his eyes wide with wonder.

'No.'

'Oh.'

The class continued with its murmurs for a few minutes more, before Toby spoke up. 'All right, guys! Homework!'

'What is it?' Tori asked, taking out a pen and paper and preparing to write.

'There is none. I'm too busy putting together an extra special lesson for next week for all of you, so I don't have time to be worrying about homework.'

For the next hour or so, Toby continued to ask everyone their opinions on their assigned songs, occasionally interjecting with more pearls of wisdom, until finally the bell rang to signal the end of class. The students filed out, and Toby bent over to pick up a stack of papers. When he straightened and turned, he found Jade standing waiting for him.

'I need to talk to you about something,' she said.

**That's it! Chapter three is here! Sorry it took a while to get it up, I've been snowed under with uni work, but now I'm on mid-semester break I'm gonna try pump out a few more chapters.**

**As a point of interest, one of my lecturers actually did tell me the thing about the audience's part in a story. He was talking about illustrated books at the time, but I thought the concept applied well to music as well.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and read so far. I hope you're all enoying it. As always, I love to hear what you think!**

**Badwolf**


	4. Chapter 4

'Sure Jade. What can I do for you?' Toby asked. Jade was silent for a few minutes, nervously (and rather uncharacteristically) staring at her shoes and fiddling with the hem of her shirt, before taking a deep breath beginning to speak.

'Whydon'tyoulikeme,' she blurted, so quickly it was all but indecipherable to anyone listening.

'Sorry?' said Toby, a confused look on his face.

Jade took another breath, and spoke again, slower this time. 'Why don't you like me?'

Toby stared levelly at her, his eyes narrowed. 'What makes you think I don't like you?'

'Well, you obviously don't like my music or my writing, so, you know…' she trailed off. Despite the fact that she had spent the best part of the lesson preparing herself to confront Toby, she really hadn't planned exactly what she was going to say, a decision she now regretted.

'Well,' Toby said, scratching his head, obviously uncomfortable with the tension in the air, 'even if I don't like you're music or your writing, why would that mean that I don't like you?'

'Because to me there is almost nothing in the world I care more about.'

Toby smiled. 'I see. So the fact that I don't like such a large part of you means that I essentially don't like the whole of you?'

Jade gave a half-shrug, and muttered 'I guess so.'

'Ok Jade, take a seat,' said Toby, motioning to a chair directly in front of his own.

'I'd really rather just sta-' Jade began, but Toby interrupted.

'Sit!' he said commandingly, though not harshly. As she did so, he reached into his jacket and pulled a manila folder, with the name 'West, Jade' just visible on the label. He rifled through it for a moment, before finding the sheet he was looking, which he held out to her.

'What's this?' she asked as she took it from him.

'It's an evaluation of you, as written by Mr. Sikowitz,' he answered.

'What am I supposed to do with it?'

'Read it, obviously.'

Jade began to read, who lips moving slightly as she progressed through, before Toby interrupted, 'Out loud, if you wouldn't mind.'

She looked at him, puzzlement clear on her face, then began to read. _'Jade West can occasionally (or regularly) be willfull, opininonated, pushy, and rude. There are times when you will want nothing more than to kick her out of your classroom in disgust, and there are others when she will make you wish you had simply stayed in bed that day.' _She paused, one eyebrow raised. 'Well that's hardly nice.'

'Just keep reading,' said Toby gently, so she sighed and carried on.

_'However, she is without doubt one of the most talented students I have ever encountered. She has a style all her own, and she is not afraid to express them, whether it be through her acting, her writing, or her music. In summary, she is a delightful, talented, and slightly volatile student, who you will love to teach.' _She finished, a slight blush present on her cheeks.

'You probably don't know this, Jade, but I have an immense amount of respect for Sikowitz, both as a teacher and a person, and he and I are actually quite close friends,' he said. 'However, it probably won't surprise you to know that I feel Sikowitz's views on this can be a little… skewed.'

'Don't I know it,' Jade replied, nodding her head in agreement.

'Yes, so you must understand that when I read this, I couldn't help but wonder if you were really such a great student, or if Sikowitz was just writing that in the midst of another coconut-induced madness,' he said, indicating the paper as he spoke.

'So, obviously you didn't agree with him then,' Jade spat out haughtily.

'Actually, quite the opposite,' Toby said with a wry smile. 'I agree with him completely.'

Jade looked shocked. 'Huh?'

'I adore your work, Jade. I think it's brilliant.'

'Then why-' she shook her head, as if trying to shake away her puzzlement. 'Wht did you talk about my work like it was a five-year-old's finger painting?'

He sat still for a moment, regarding her gravely, before clicking his tongue and sighing. 'Jade let me explain something to you. You are very much an artist after my own heart. You have a way with words, a vivid imagination, and more than a slight tendency towards the gothic,' he said, maintaining a steady gaze directly into her eyes.

'So then why didn't you say so in class the other day?'

'Well, two reasons. Number one is that if I had told you then what I just did, I was concerned the rest of the class might assume I was showing you favouritism, which is something I would never do,' he answered, scratching his chin with his left hand.

'And the second reason?'

'Honestly? ,' he said, and she nodded. 'From what I had seen of your work, I truly didn't think you would need, or possibly even want, the feedback of a teacher you had only just met. It seemed to me that even if I had complemented you, you would most likely have taken it with a grain of salt.'

Jade shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to think of a way to respond to this. 'Well, you know, I guess I just kind of, I don't know…' she muttered, trailing off.

'I figured you to be the sort of student where I would need to earn your respect before I would be able to have any kind of meaningful discussion with you.'

'Well, you kind of had my respect right from the start,' Jade said, rather shyly.

He raised an eyebrow. 'How so?'

'Well, for one I couldn't think of a comeback when you told me I was cycnical, which literally never happens. And for another thing, I noticed the tattoo on your forearm,' she said, pointing to his left arm.

He gave a small smile. 'Hmmm, well it would seem we have aired our issues to some satisfaction, so I think you should probably toddle off, or you'll be late home.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Toddle?'

'I said it,' he said with a smile, and they laughed, before standing, gathering their things and walking out. In the hallway outside, as they parted ways, she turned to him.

'You must really like them, if you got a tattoo like that,' Jade said, pointing to his left forearm again.

'That, my dear, is a story for another time,' he said wryly, before turning and walking down the hall.

**Chapter 4 done! Leaving this one on what is going to be a bit of an ongoing mystery for this story, hope it leaves everyone intrigued. **

**Keep reviewing, keep reading! I know that compared to some authors out there I may not have quite the same following, but I am shooting to be one of the best. Tell your friends about me. It excites me to see when people are reading my story!**

**I'm also working on a silly little oneshot that I'm hoping to upload fairly soon.**

**Badwolf**


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